Method of making metal sponges



Sept. 28, 1948. A. J. HOMO'N 2,450,280

METHOD OF MAKING METAL SPONGES v Filed Jan. 8, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 51mmm INVENTOR A LBER rJ/v'amou AT 0 R A. J. HOMON METHOD OF MAKING METALSPONGE-S Sept. 28, 1948.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 8, 1945 INVENTOR ffirdf/alwan/ ATTORNEYSPatented Sept. 28, 1948 METHOD F MAKING METAL SPONGES Albert J. 'Homon,Chicopee, Masa, assignor to Springfield Wire & Tins e1 00., WestSpringfield, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application January 8,1945, Serial No. 571,901

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to improvements in methods of making metalsponges. Metal sponges have been formed by winding, generally with across wind, more or less regular helices of thin metal ribbon or lahnunder tension upon a form somewhat larger than the sponge desired, andthen releasing the wound skein to permit it to contract. To speed up thewinding operation two or more similar helices have been wound at thesame time. The resulting sponge is loose in texture and can readily bepulled apart.

.I have found that if two adjoining helices are formed of opposite handand are simultaneously cross wound into a skein under tension and then.'released, a sponge is produced having a character wholly differentfrom that .of the former construction. The helices are more open,presenting more scraping edges, and the sponge is selfsustaining with notendency to pull apart. The sponge also has a much firmer body in spiteof its more open texture. I have also discovered that if a sponge iswound with two or more helical strands spaced apart axially of the skeinwith enough tension to keep the helices opened up, a very stable spongeof a spheroidal form is produced. This is particularly advantageous ifthe helices are of opposite hand as described above. 7

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which alternative way of making the product;

Figs. 8 and 9 are views like Fig. showing a method of producing aspherical sponge;

Fig. 10 is a diagram illustrative of the mode of operation shown inFigs. 8 and 9; and

Fig. .11 is a view of a sponge made in accordance with the method ofFigs. 8 to 10.

'The preferred manner of carrying out the process is illustrated in Fig.5. In this figure two :so-ca'lled spindles I0 and H are shown. These:are in general of the type shown in the Montgomery and Mason Patent1,386,350, August 2, 1921, but provided with tapered polygonal inandrelsI2 and I3 as is customary when spindles of this type are to be used formaking a coreless helix. The mandrels l2 and 13 are stationary and aflyer carrier 14 is mounted to revolve relative to each. Mounted on eachflyer carrier is a so-called fiyer ill of bent wire which as shown inthe Montgomery and Mason patent is pivoted and spring-pressed outwardly.Also rotatably mounted adjacent each mandrel is a spool l6 carryingflattened metallic wire. The two spindles are substantially identical inconstruction but are different in the direction of revolution and in theway that the wire is treated. In the upper spindle the flat wire is laidover a guide rod l1, over the loop or eye of the fiyer l5, and then ledwith a half turn torthe mandrel so that the curl given to the wire byrubbing againstthe eye of the flyer will tend to make the wire grip themandrel. A similar arrangement is followed in the lower spindle exceptthat the wire is wound reversely upon the spool IE and is led over aguide rod l8 and the flyer l 5 in such a way that the coil wound uponthe mandrel will be left handed rather than right handed.

The left and right handed helices from thet-wo spools are joined at areciprocating guide IQ of any desired type which moves back and forthalong a pin reel or windup 20 so as to produce a cross-wind. The reel isrotated at a speed somewhat higher than the speed in which the coils areled off the mandrels so that the coils are stretched out in winding asin the Mason Patent 2,121,527 June 21, 1938,'in which a 'diiierentmannor of forming-the curls is used. In this process the right handedihelix 2| made uponthe upper spindleis brought closely-together with theleft handed helix 22 as shown in Fig. 3, and wound uponth'e reel 20 inthis condition. Due to the fact that a cross-wind is used, the compositestrand formed by the union of the two helices is caused to interlock atthe intersections of the winding, and when the completed sponge isremovedfr'om the reel it collapses into acompacted cylindrical mass asshown in Fig. 6.

As compared with prior constructions the degree of interlocking isgreatly increased so "that the sponge has greater inherent rigidity andresistance to being pulled apart. The coils are also more open so thatmore cutting edges of the strand are exposed,giving 'a greater cleaningaction. A further advantage of this construction is that on account ofthe increased interlocking there is 'much'less tendency for the strandsto become free once they are broken during use. It will be understoodthat these sponges are used very largely in cleaning cooking utensils,and that as wear occurs some of the strands will be broken. In olderconstructions the strands were not suffici'ently interlocked and wouldtherefore come out of the sponge mass to form loose tails orprojections. With the increased interlocking of the present sponge thiscannot occur.

A further modification of this is indicated in Fig. 7, where instead ofa flyer construction the strands are pulled by draw rolls 23 over a pairof curling edges 24 and 25 which are slanted in opposite directions. Thestrands are in this case brought together through the guide I9 and woundup on the reel 20 as previously. By disposing the curling edges at anangle two effects are accomplished which are not present for example inthe Mason patent referred to. A much more open helix will be producedfor the reason that the pitch of a helix drawn over a curling edge isdetermined by the angle which the edge bears to the path of the travelof the wire, a right angle producing the closest pitch. This openconstruction is an advantage for the reasons pointed out above, buthitherto sponges made on curling edges were not controllable in thisregard. Furthermore, a flat wire drawn over an angular curling edge willform a right or left handed helix depending upon the inclination of thecurling edge relative to the path of the wire.

By inclining the curling edges oppositely one will produce a righthanded helix and the other a left handed helix with the resultsdescribed previously. It should be noted, however, that in any helixmade by the curling edge method it is neces sary for the curl to revolvein order to form the helix. With a curling edge at right angles to thepath of the wire curls form alternately in right handed and left handeddirections, which prevents the interlocking effect of the presentinvention taking place to any material extent. With angular edges,however, the necessary rotation of the helix during its formation canoccur only by periodic kinking of the strand so that the productresulting from an arrangement such as in Fig. 7 does not have theuniform appearance of a product made by the spindles shown in Fig. 3, inwhich no such rotation of the strand is necessary to form the helix. Thespindle method is therefore preferred since it makes a superior product.

Rather than passing the helices through a common guide eye as in Fig. anovel effect can be obtained by the use of two guide eyes, one for eachhelix, spaced apart axially of the windup reel, The type of interlockingof the two strands shown in Figs. 3 and 4 will not result in this case,but instead the interlockings at crossing points will be multiplied andincreased; due both to a larger number of crossing points and to thegreater ease of interlocking at crossing points when the helices attheir crossing points are single rather than double as in Fig. 3. Thehelices are, for the production of a product having the greateststability and scouring effect, preferably of right and left hand asdescribed above, but material advantages result even when thisrefinement is not employed.

In Figs. 8 and 9 the spindles l9 and l l and the wind-up reel 20 may bethe same as previously described, and need not be discussed further.Instead of the single-eye guides 19 of Fig. 5, however, a guide 26having spaced eyes 2! and 28 is employed. This reciprocates back andforth parallel to the axis of the wind-up reel 20 as indicated byarrows. As will be clear from Fig. 10, eye

21 reciprocates through the path 29 and eye 28' through the path 30,there being a region 3| in which the strands from the two eyes are bothbuilt up on the reel. The ends of the skein are thus of a decreasedthickness as compared with its center, and the resulting sponge shown inFig. 11 will be spherodial in form rather than substantially cylindricalas in the case of the sponge of Fig. 6.

I claim:

1. A method of making a metal sponge which comprises forming acontinuous right handed helix and a continuous left handed helix,winding said strands under tension upon a rotating support, continuouslytraversing said strands back and forth along the support so that thestrands continuously cross over those previously wound, and releasingthe mass from the support.

2. A method of making a metal sponge which comprises forming acontinuous right handed helix and a continuous left handed helix,winding said strands under tension upon a rotating support, continuouslytraversing said strands back and forth along the support so that'thestrands continuously cross over those previously wound, guiding saidstrands in spaced parallel relation during the winding operation wherebya substantially spheroidal mass is obtained, and releasing the woundmass from the support.

3. A method of making a metal sponge which comprises forming acontinuous right hand and a continuous left hand helix, winding saidstrands under tension upon a rotating support, continuously traversingsaid strands back and forth along the support so that the strandscontinuously cross over those previously wound, guiding said strands inlateral contact one with another during the winding operation whereby asubstantially cylindrical mass is obtained, and releasing the wound massfrom the support.

4. A method of making a metal sponge which comprises forming acontinuous right handed helix and a continuous left handed helix bywinding separate strands on tapering polygonal mandrels and allowing thewound helices to slide 011 the ends thereof, winding said strands undertension upon a rotating support, continuously traversing said strandsback and forth along the support so that the strands continuously crossover those previously wound, and releasing the wound mass from thesupport.

ALBERT J. HOMON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,689,093 Wolle Oct. 23, 19281,976,491 Gottschalk Oct. 9, 1934 1,991,023 Mayer Feb. 12, 19351,991,024 Mayer Feb. 12, 1935 1,995,808 Homon Mar. 26, 1935 1,995,809Homon Mar. 26, 1935 2,121,527 Mason June 21, 1938 2,138,787 Gottschalket al. Nov. 29, 1938 2,240,185 I-Iennessy Apr. 29, 1941 2,265,369Hennessy Dec. 9, 1941 2,287,879 Hennessy June 30, 1942

